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Movie
Poster for *batteries not included

*batteries not included

1987 · 107 min

A gentle, whimsical fable with a warm heart, mixing small-scale sci-fi wonder with a bittersweet sense of community and loss.

Directed by
Matthew Robbins
Genres
Family, Comedy, Science fiction
Starring
Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae
Tagline
Five ordinary people needed a miracle. Then one night, Faye Riley left the window open.
Overview
In a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mechanical aliens land for a recharge, they decide to stay and help out.

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Stream in the UK
  • Now TV Cinema
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Matthew Robbins
Genres
Family, Comedy, Science fiction
Starring
Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • warmstrength 3 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • found family
  • family
  • isolation
  • greed
  • healing
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
contemporary
Audience
family
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror1
Humour5
Realism4
Romance3
Tension4
Darkness3
Complexity3
Emotional weight6

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Where to watch in the UK

Stream
  • Now TV Cinema
Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • Sky Store
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
family, comedy, science fiction
Directed by
Matthew Robbins
Written by
Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins, S.S. Wilson, Brent Maddock
Starring
Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae, Elizabeth Peña, Michael Carmine, Dennis Boutsikaris, Tom Aldredge, Jane Hoffman
Music
James Horner
Cinematography
John McPherson
Runtime
107 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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